Machine for copying sculpture



(No Model.)

A. B. HOLSTE-IN.

MACHINE FOR COPYING SGULJWPTUR'B, STATUARY, &c. No. 255,508.v Patented Mar. 28,1882.

U ITED STATES PATENT. @FFICE.

AUGUSTUS B. HOLSTEIN, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO.

VMACH'INE' FOR C OPYlNG SCULPT-URE, STATUARY, aw.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 255,508, dated March 28, 1882.

Application filed January I6, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be itknown that I, AUGUSTUS B. HoLsrEiN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Oincinnati, in the county of. Hamilton and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Machines for Oopyin g Sculpture, Statuary, Cameos, Intaglios, &c., of which the following is a specification.

My invention consists essentially of a supporting table or bed having at its mid-length a vertically-projecting swivel-frame that affords bearings for a pair of parallel swinging beams,said beams being disposed one above the other and so coupled together as to vibrate in unison. Furthermore, these vibrating parallel beams carry the feeler or tracer that is passed over the pattern, and the drills or cutters that produce the copies of said pattern, these drills being operated by asystem of pul leys and bands applied to the aforesaid beams. Arranged longitudinally of the bed is ascrew, one half of which has a right-hand thread and the other half a left-hand thread, for the purpose of causing a pair of standards to simultaneously advance or recede, said adjustable standards being adapted to support the pattern and the blocks from which the desired copies are to 'be produced, as hereinafter more fully described, and pointed out in the claims.

In the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is aside elevation of my machine, portions of the bed being broken away to expose the screw. Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the same, the slide ofthe nearest standard being in section. Fig. 3 is a vertical section of the machine, taken in the plane of the spindle of the swivel-frame, the driving-band being omitted. Fig. 4 is ahorizontal section of the machine, taken in the plane of the lower or principal swinging beam. Fig. 5 is a plan of the secondary swinging beam detached from the machine.

The supporting member of my machine consists of a stout bed or table, A, provided at the top with a pair of parallel shears, a. lit", for a purpose that will presently appear. Secured rigidly to these shears, at or near the mid-length of the same, is a block, B, bored vertically to receive the spindle c of a swivelframe, 0, which latter has horizontal bearings d e for the primary swinging beam, D, and secondary swinging beam, E. Furthermore, the

leys h h of thedrill-shafts H H.

lower bearing, (1, has journaled on it a three.

part pulley, F G G, the central member, F, being adapted to receive the driving-band f, (seen in Fig. 1,) while the grooved members G' G receive the cords g 9, that operate the pul- These shafts are journaled in the forked ends of beam D, and are so arranged as to dispose the drills I 1 on opposite sides of said beam, as seen, in Fig.4. Shaft H has anotherpulley, h around which passes a band, J, that communicates motion to a pulley, It, of the drill-shaft K, the latter being journaled in one of theforked ends of the beam E, and being provided with a drill, L, which drill is at all times vertically above the one I. The opposite forked end of beam E carries a feeler or tracingpoint, M; which is vertically above the drill I.

N N are links so coupled to the primary beam, D, and secondary beam, E, as to compel them to vibrate in unison.

Disposed longitudinally of the machine is a screw having opposite threads, 0 0, of equal pitch, said screw being rotated by either of the hand-wheels o 0, and being engaged with nuts pp projecting from the under side of the slides P P, which latter are adapted to traverse the shears a a.

Projecting rigidly from slide P is a vertical standard, R, having a longitudinal slot, 1', horizontal slots 1", and two retaining-screws, S S, of which screws the upper one, S, secures the pattern or die to said standard, while the lower screw, S, retains one of the copy-blocks in position. The other slide, P, carries a similar rigid standard, T, having a longitudinal slot, t, horizontal slots t, and two screws, U U, for fastening a pair of blocks to said standard. Both of these standards may be arranged to revolve on their respective slides, so as toenable the tracer and drills to have access to the pattern and copy-blocks in every direction, the

screw, S, and, ifdesiretl, additional screws may be inserted in the slots 1'1" to lock said pattern and prevent it rotating around the screw. The first copy-block is secured to said standard by the lower screw, S, and by other suitable retaining devices passed through the slots r r. The second and third copy-blocks are applied to the other standard, T, by the screws U U, and, it necessary, by other screws passed through the slots t t. These preparatory steps having been taken, power is applied to the driving-lmndf, so as to revolve the drill pulleys h h L at any desired speed-say about three thousand revolutions a minute. The standards R T are now advanced toward each other, and the t'eeler or tracer M is brought in contact with the pattern or model secured on the screw S, said tracer being so manipulated by the operator as to pass over the face of the die in a vertical direction, after which act said standards are again slightly advanced and the tracer is caused to describe a new path over the face of the die.

These operations are repeated until the entiresurfaceofthepatternhasbeengoneoverand the three copying-blocks have had produced upon them exact fac-similes of the original device, whatever the latter may be. This perfect reproduction of the original die is due to the fact that the coupled beams D E vibrate vertically on their bearings d 0, while the frame 0 swings freely on its spindle c, and consequently a universal motion is secured which enables the feeler M to have access to every part of the model, and allows the drills I I L to rise or lower and play laterally in exact unison with said feeler. It will thus be seen that any and every movement of the feeler is immediately transmitted to all the'drills or cutters, and without the possibility of any lost motion occurring to mar the accuracy of the copies.

It is to be understood that the model ordie is to be composed either of hard wood or composition or metal, and when very highly finished copies are required the work may becommenced with a comparatively coarse tool and completed with a liner one at a second operation.

The machine is adapted for reproducing the finest artistical sculpture, architectural ornaments, cameos, intaglios, &c., and by its use an ordinary laborer can accomplish ten or fitteen times the amount of work the most proficient sculptor could turn out, as said machine completes three perfect pieces at the same time, and by simply adding another beam similar to the one D five copies can be made as readily as three.

The machine can be made sufficientl y strong and durable to carve ornaments on stone or other similar hard substance. Finally, in some cases the upper beams, E, may be omit ted and the feeler be substituted for the drill 1 of the beam D; but in this event a single copy only could be produced at one operation.

I claim as my invention- 1. The combination, in a machine for copying sculpture, of a swivel-frame carrying a pair of coupled vibrating beams armed with a tracer and three cutting-drills, and a pair of standards capable of being simultaneously advanced and retracted, and provided with devices for holding the pattern and copy-blocks, said coupled vibrating beams being disposed one above the other, substantially as herein described.

2. The combination of swivel-frame G c, primary swinging beam D (l,secondary swinging beam E c, three-part pulley F G G, bands gg J, drill-shafts H H K, pulleys h h h k, tracer M, and coupling-links N N, substantially as herein described.

3. The slide I, carrying a standard, R, slotted vertically at r and horizontally at r, and provided with screws S S for retaining the blocks to said standard, substantially as herein described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

AUGUSTUS B. HOLSTEIN.

Witnesses:

JAMES H. LAYMAN, CHARLES HOLSTEIN. 

